Official: Kove Factory to enter MXGP paddock - Starting with EMX250 in 2027

DeStouwer
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4/23/2026 2:06am Edited Date/Time 4/23/2026 2:06am
DeStouwer wrote:
FB IMG 1776892157399.jpg?VersionId=e4i25 rIIqI.3X
themrtoad wrote:
Any video? Who are the riders?

Any video? Who are the riders?

South African Jean Visser is one of them (#247). He has some experience in EMX250, he raced the first two GP's of the season on a Husqvarna but failed to qualify.

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rym
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4/23/2026 3:51am

hmmm a guy seconds to slow to qualify in emx as the testrider?

wwdiii
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4/23/2026 5:39am

A lot more Kove MX bikes would sell if they were red.  If they can’t figure that out they may not be all that successful.  

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The Shop

rallendude
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4/23/2026 6:05am

What if the Chinese aren't entering the EMX world to win the 2027 championship?  What if they are entering to prove that the Kove 250 can be raced, just like the established mfgs' bikes, week in and week out, without constant bike failures?  What if their whole goal is to prove the bike is reliable enough and that there is enough factory support to warrant the everyday Joe in the US or in the Philippines to go out and buy their bikes?  The Chinese are coming.  They started out copying IP in almost every industry.  But there are rooms full of engineers over there reverse engineering components from every industry.  They are learning and advancing.  If you've been there you'll know, they are extremely technologically advanced.  They absolutely ARE the Japan from the 60s and 70s.   

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Press516
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4/23/2026 11:31am
Press516 wrote:
Even at 42, they are in excess of 20% down on HP to a factory race bike.  That does get them closer to a production bike...

Even at 42, they are in excess of 20% down on HP to a factory race bike.  That does get them closer to a production bike though...  They are still going to need to find a fair amount more.  

I'm curious what they plan to do on suspension...  Will they put on some Showa or KYB?  Or is it going to be the Yu'An stuff?  Yu'An cone valves anyone??  The pictures of the bike show WPS decals...  I thought they were a tuning company, but what are they tuning?

vet323 wrote:

Don't they come with KYB from the factory? 

Just double checked and the 2026 MX250 has a KYB fork and a Yu-An shock...  So they are part way there.  I'm confident you are on to something though, their race bike will be KYB shock too, bet on it.

Its really just whether or not the Zongshen motor can build the HP, and if so, can it survive?  

4/23/2026 1:20pm Edited Date/Time 4/23/2026 1:21pm

The bike has proven reliable. Jubal has hundreds of hours on his Gen 1. It's catching up in performance that's going to be tough. 

Anodized teal rims would go hard on that bike.  

My KTM 500 has not needed valve adjusting in 150hrs and many go 300+ hours without needing adjusting. It's also nowhere near the same class of engine that Factory KTM wins motos with.  All this insta shows me is that Kove appears to be heading in the right direction as far as consumer level reliability goes. 

The only way they'll get race ready is to start the process, and bring a heavily modified YZ250F along to dyno against. When they start pushing towards the same HP numbers and stop blowing up engines they'll be in a good spot. 

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arebnac
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4/24/2026 10:21am

I remember some talks on Ford and Mopar planning to build bikes too (because "MOBILITY" and "ASIAN MARKETS")... what happened to that? or am I misremembering something?

GrapeApe
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4/24/2026 10:29am Edited Date/Time 4/24/2026 10:30am

The bike has proven reliable. Jubal has hundreds of hours on his Gen 1. It's catching up in performance that's going to be tough. 

Anodized teal rims would go hard on that bike.  My KTM 500 has not needed valve adjusting in 150hrs and many go 300+ hours without needing...

Anodized teal rims would go hard on that bike.  

My KTM 500 has not needed valve adjusting in 150hrs and many go 300+ hours without needing adjusting. It's also nowhere near the same class of engine that Factory KTM wins motos with.  All this insta shows me is that Kove appears to be heading in the right direction as far as consumer level reliability goes. 

The only way they'll get race ready is to start the process, and bring a heavily modified YZ250F along to dyno against. When they start pushing towards the same HP numbers and stop blowing up engines they'll be in a good spot. 

The early models came with teal rims.  It was a little overkill with the teal frame but might look better on the new ones.

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1
4/24/2026 11:54am

I like it, but I think anodized would be better than that flat powercoat look.  Plus with graphics on top of it, with red accents would be sick 

Tiki
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4/27/2026 6:36pm

The bike has proven reliable. Jubal has hundreds of hours on his Gen 1. It's catching up in performance that's going to be tough. 

Anodized teal rims would go hard on that bike.  My KTM 500 has not needed valve adjusting in 150hrs and many go 300+ hours without needing...

Anodized teal rims would go hard on that bike.  

My KTM 500 has not needed valve adjusting in 150hrs and many go 300+ hours without needing adjusting. It's also nowhere near the same class of engine that Factory KTM wins motos with.  All this insta shows me is that Kove appears to be heading in the right direction as far as consumer level reliability goes. 

The only way they'll get race ready is to start the process, and bring a heavily modified YZ250F along to dyno against. When they start pushing towards the same HP numbers and stop blowing up engines they'll be in a good spot. 

250 hours? Side cases and frame rails look pretty good. Sus. Was he riding every day? 

On his account he gets the bike beginning of June '24 and the teardown is the end of February of '25. If he pulled that off, I am jealous. This guy hasn't a job but riding his 250 every other day. 

BossWool2800
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4/27/2026 7:43pm
Cortami79 wrote:
Some news in the GP paddock, Chinese manufacturer will enter the paddock with the previous TBS Conversions team.Plan is to have two EMX250 riders in 2027...

Some news in the GP paddock, Chinese manufacturer will enter the paddock with the previous TBS Conversions team.

Plan is to have two EMX250 riders in 2027 and move forward to MX2 in 2028.

Official: New manufacturer – Kove Factory Racing to enter the GP paddock in 2027 – GateDrop.com

Excellent news

Crash217J
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4/28/2026 10:20am

The bike has proven reliable. Jubal has hundreds of hours on his Gen 1. It's catching up in performance that's going to be tough. 

Anodized teal rims would go hard on that bike.  My KTM 500 has not needed valve adjusting in 150hrs and many go 300+ hours without needing...

Anodized teal rims would go hard on that bike.  

My KTM 500 has not needed valve adjusting in 150hrs and many go 300+ hours without needing adjusting. It's also nowhere near the same class of engine that Factory KTM wins motos with.  All this insta shows me is that Kove appears to be heading in the right direction as far as consumer level reliability goes. 

The only way they'll get race ready is to start the process, and bring a heavily modified YZ250F along to dyno against. When they start pushing towards the same HP numbers and stop blowing up engines they'll be in a good spot. 

Tiki wrote:
250 hours? Side cases and frame rails look pretty good. Sus. Was he riding every day? On his account he gets the bike beginning of June '24...

250 hours? Side cases and frame rails look pretty good. Sus. Was he riding every day? 

On his account he gets the bike beginning of June '24 and the teardown is the end of February of '25. If he pulled that off, I am jealous. This guy hasn't a job but riding his 250 every other day. 

Jubal rides multiple times a week usually.  He's a freelance marketing guy, travels around a lot, remote working and making content for several motorcycle industry companies. 

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4/28/2026 10:35am

If Kove made an airplane, would you book a flight?

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soggy
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4/28/2026 12:08pm

If Kove made an airplane, would you book a flight?

before a 737 max? Yea probably. 

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3
4/28/2026 12:13pm

If Kove made an airplane, would you book a flight?

Most of the components in your car (electrical and otherwise) are made in China, yet you don't bat an eye driving 75mph on a crowded interstate. 

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BoxcarWilly
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4/28/2026 1:51pm
Crash217J wrote:

Jubal rides multiple times a week usually.  He's a freelance marketing guy, travels around a lot, remote working and making content for several motorcycle industry companies. 

Yeah Jubal is super legit. 

BoxcarWilly
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4/28/2026 1:51pm

If Kove made an airplane, would you book a flight?

What about Bajaj?

Tiki
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4/28/2026 7:21pm
Anodized teal rims would go hard on that bike.  My KTM 500 has not needed valve adjusting in 150hrs and many go 300+ hours without needing...

Anodized teal rims would go hard on that bike.  

My KTM 500 has not needed valve adjusting in 150hrs and many go 300+ hours without needing adjusting. It's also nowhere near the same class of engine that Factory KTM wins motos with.  All this insta shows me is that Kove appears to be heading in the right direction as far as consumer level reliability goes. 

The only way they'll get race ready is to start the process, and bring a heavily modified YZ250F along to dyno against. When they start pushing towards the same HP numbers and stop blowing up engines they'll be in a good spot. 

Tiki wrote:
250 hours? Side cases and frame rails look pretty good. Sus. Was he riding every day? On his account he gets the bike beginning of June '24...

250 hours? Side cases and frame rails look pretty good. Sus. Was he riding every day? 

On his account he gets the bike beginning of June '24 and the teardown is the end of February of '25. If he pulled that off, I am jealous. This guy hasn't a job but riding his 250 every other day. 

Crash217J wrote:

Jubal rides multiple times a week usually.  He's a freelance marketing guy, travels around a lot, remote working and making content for several motorcycle industry companies. 

He's ass and I am jealous. He is only an ass because I am jealous. I have no idea who he is but I am jealous that he can ride so much he can put 250 hours on a bike in six months. 

What a dick!

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Tiki
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4/28/2026 7:24pm

If Kove made an airplane, would you book a flight?

Most of the components in your car (electrical and otherwise) are made in China, yet you don't bat an eye driving 75mph on a crowded interstate. 

There's a Youtube channel that takes apart Chinese motorcycle motors. Bearings come from Japan, other components from Germany. They only make what they can make affordable. Granted that's Cases, Rod and Piston...

BossWool2800
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4/28/2026 7:38pm

The Kove is probably fine, I’m still not gonna buy one. It is awesome that China is actually gonna support a team. It could use some upgraded graphics and a better color.

1
Juck
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4/29/2026 10:02pm

Am I the only one that actually likes the colour of the Kove? It's unique too, we already have enough red bikes

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NSP139
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4/30/2026 6:29am

If Kove made an airplane, would you book a flight?

Most of the components in your car (electrical and otherwise) are made in China, yet you don't bat an eye driving 75mph on a crowded interstate. 

Tiki wrote:
There's a Youtube channel that takes apart Chinese motorcycle motors. Bearings come from Japan, other components from Germany. They only make what they can make affordable...

There's a Youtube channel that takes apart Chinese motorcycle motors. Bearings come from Japan, other components from Germany. They only make what they can make affordable. Granted that's Cases, Rod and Piston...

People have been finding Chinese bearings in the 26 KTMs already

wwdiii
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4/30/2026 8:12am
Juck wrote:

Am I the only one that actually likes the colour of the Kove? It's unique too, we already have enough red bikes

I’m not a fan of the teal color, I’m sure others are.  Like I said earlier, red sells.  I don’t care if it’s a car, boat or dirt bike, red is a popular color.  I’ve seen pics of red Kove’s but couldn’t find it on their website.

 

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826
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4/30/2026 8:58am

Jubal Brown is faster than 99% of the fellas in here shitting on the Kove.  

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ATKpilot99
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4/30/2026 10:57am
Juck wrote:

Am I the only one that actually likes the colour of the Kove? It's unique too, we already have enough red bikes

wwdiii wrote:
I’m not a fan of the teal color, I’m sure others are.  Like I said earlier, red sells.  I don’t care if it’s a car, boat...

I’m not a fan of the teal color, I’m sure others are.  Like I said earlier, red sells.  I don’t care if it’s a car, boat or dirt bike, red is a popular color.  I’ve seen pics of red Kove’s but couldn’t find it on their website.

 

Could've sworn I've seen a white one early on . They should go with that . 

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